


A Burden to Share

by theSapphireSky



Series: The Detective and the Pathologist [32]
Category: Sherlock (TV)
Genre: Emotional Hurt/Comfort, F/M, Molly is his anchor
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-04-03
Updated: 2017-04-03
Packaged: 2018-10-14 12:08:52
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 534
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/10536162
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/theSapphireSky/pseuds/theSapphireSky
Summary: When the world weighs down on him, he knows he can count on her to be by his side.





	

Seven. Seven children lost before they’d caught him. 

Sherlock let himself into 221 Baker Street quietly and shut the door, leaning back against it. It had taken three weeks to catch this psychopath and right now he felt all the exhaustion and frustration he’d pushed aside to focus on the case suddenly hit him. His knees buckled and he crumpled to the hard floor. The tears were only expected, physical and emotional exhaustion breaking down his barriers until he wasn’t The World’s Only Consulting Detective right then, but just a man who had failed to save seven lives.

He covered his mouth and bent double as a sob wracked his frame. It was early, the streets quiet and the flat dark; it would not do to wake anyone because he was weak, but he couldn’t pretend to not feel it. Not right now. Tomorrow when he’d processed and filed away everything, he would pretend he hadn’t lost it.

Suddenly, small but familiar hands were prying his hands from his face and he looked up through blurry, red-rimmed eyes to see Molly kneeling in front of him. Her loving gaze was full of understanding and relief. She gathered him into her arms and he buried his face in her shoulder, letting her rock him slowly as he cried. Her fingers brushed soothingly along his neck and down his back. 

‘I’m sorry,’ he gasped, ashamed of his weakness, but unable to compose himself.  


Her hand on his neck stopped and she shifted her head so that she could press a kiss to his temple. ‘You have nothing to be sorry for. I am so proud of you.’

‘I failed them. Those children,’ his voice broke and he pulled back. ‘If I had only found-’  


‘No,’ Molly whispered fiercely and pulled him down, so that their foreheads touched. She took several deep breaths, clearly angry but, to his surprise, not with him. ‘No, it is not your fault. You did not fail them.’  


He opened his mouth to argue the point, but she pressed a desperate kiss to his lips and he swallowed the words. Her tears mixed with his and when they broke apart, she cupped his cheeks and looked at him fiercely.

‘You _saved_ countless more. You brought closure to those children’s families and justice to their memories. You don’t get to blame yourself for someone else’s sins.’  


He closed his eyes and heaved a shaky sigh, dubious.

‘The weight of the world is not yours to carry,’ she whispered and brushed a hand through his curls. 

Sherlock wrapped his arms around her and held on tight. It might not be the weight of the world, but it was a heavy burden he chose to bear sometimes. He closed his eyes and breathed in the calming scent that was uniquely Molly. And as he exhaled, a little weight fell away to ease his burden. 

It was not an easy road he walked, treading into the darkness of the world and praying it did not overtake him. But with her on his side to carry the burden with him and be the light that guided him home, he knew he could pick it up again tomorrow. 


End file.
